I used to think I had seen it all when it came to clubs, DJs and live acts. That was until Saturday night when Joachim Garraud and his Space Invaders launched an attack on an unsuspecting Kink.
The night started off just like any other Saturday at Kink, streams of people in both the standard and guest list line were waiting, and strangely there was a few people dressed up as aliens spotted amongst the crowd. This was to be the first sign that tonight was not going to be ordinary. Once inside we grabbed a few drinks then got a nice spot on the dance floor, just in time for the start of Joachim’s set. It was at this point jaws began to drop, and there was a few loud bangs – the sound of minds being blown – went off around the Arthouse.
Joachim started off with a very cool audio / video introduction and we were on our way. As the beat began to kick in he looped the sample from the intro, but the vision on the screen looped as well, this revealed he was using some kind of DVD turntable. This is the first time I had ever seen these been used, and to be honest, I had previously thought of them as just a gimmick with no real use for serious DJs. But the way Joachim used this new tool proved me wrong. He continued to use the DVD through out his set. Mostly with samples, for example with Mr Fingers “In The Beginning”. He had created a video with the lips of a girl mouthing the words, and could then loop certain words in time with the music, then increase the pitch. The effect was amazing, as you could see the manipulation of the sound happening on the screen. It’s brought a new dimension into the world of DJing.
All of a sudden, there was a pause in the music. The crowd cheered in appreciation of Joachim, but this was only the beginning, as he pulled out a keytar (one of those keyboards played in a style similar to a guitar). This in itself brought a loud cheer from the dancers, a cheer that got even louder when he started playing the riff of Da Hool’s classic “Meet Her at the Love Parade”. He continued playing the riff, pressed play on the CD decks and played it into his own remix of that song, then whilst still playing his keytar he managed to mix at the same time, adding extra oomph to the baselines, or the riffs of the songs he was playing.
Not just a master of the keytar and the DVD deck, Joachim was a tight mixer as well. His track selection was spot on, although sometimes a bit too predictable (what DJ these days is not playing “Sweet Dreams”, or “Seven Nation Army”?) But his style, like everything else he did, was unique and innovative. The man utilised the CD decks to their full potential, and I doubt there was a feature on them that did not get used. At the end of the night, I don’t think there was a person who left the Arthouse who was not breathless, not just from dancing all night, but from Joachim’s innovativeness and skills with his DJing (in the broader sense of the word). Joachim leaves Australia with a great deal of new fans, and we can’t wait to have him back.
vinh_ says...
Damn straight, i missed out on Bass Kleph's set because of this guy. His visuals and technical skill combined are just too amazing to describe. Had to be there!
sammyk says...
one of the best sets ive ever seen...truly magical...people of the forums are saying he's already confirmed for Future Music Festival next year....cant wait!
MC DrEx says...
i wholeheartedly agree